Sheet-feeding machine.



R. E. & KEEPER. SHEET FEEDING MAOHIHB. APPLIOATIOI PILED P318, 1008. I

,4 sums-sum- 1.

R. E. & A. KEMPER.

SHEET FEEDING. MACHINE.

APPLICATION PI 903,386. m m 6 Patented Nov. 10,1908.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

xl IIIIIIIIIH R. E. 6: A. KEMPER.

SHEET FEEDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION rum) FEB. 6, 190a.

903,386. Patented Nov. 10, 1908.

4 BHEBTBBHEET 3.

W1 TNESS ROBERT 1"). KEMIER AND Alt'll-llllt KEMPER, OI" RENSSELAER, NEW YORK.

SHEET-FEEDING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 10, 1908.

Application filed February 6,1908. seria1 n .414,c4e;

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, ROBERT E. KEMPE and An'riiun Kmirnn, citizens of the United States, residing at Rensselaer, in the county of ltenssclaer and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inSheet-Feedin Machines; and'we do hereby, dec lsre the'fo lowin to be a full, clear; and exact description of the invention, suehus will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the some. j

Our invention consists in the novel features hereinafter described reference bein had-.t'othe accompanying drawings whici illustrate one form in which we have conteni plated embodying our invention and'said invention is fully disclosed in the following description and claims. 7

Referring to the said drawings, Figure I is a perspective view (partly broken away) of a machine for feeding sheets, 'etc., .embodying our invention. Fig. '2' is a front elevation of. the some. 'Fig.'3 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view of the nmehine on line x-a: Fig. 2,- looking in thedirection indicated by the arrow 3.- :Fig. 4 is a. similar view on line .z-: of Fig. 2- looking in vthe direetion'ji'ndh cated by arrow 4. Fig. 5 (Sheet 3) isadetail perspective view ofone of the separating devices, and its supporting arm} Fig. 6 is a sectional view of the same. Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 5, showing a slightly modified form of separator; i The object of .our invention is to provide mechanism for automatically feeding sheets of paper. (and analogous articles, such as' envelops, cards and the like,) singly, and it' may be conveniently employed in feeding the sheets successively to a printing press or other device, to which it may be desirable to presentthenn D p 'i In the drawings A A represent the aide frames of the apparatus which are constructb ed to receive and supportthe operating parts.

B represents a table secured between the side .frames A, over which anendless conveyer'moves. In this instance the conveyor consists of ,a pluralityof endless bands oi". tapes b, Ir, supported on pulleys ordrums I), carried by horizontal shafts B, B, mounted in the side frames A A.'; The shaft B is the drivingshaftforthc conveye-r and is provided with suitable operating means. To this eiid shaft B is provided with a ratchet in the side frames thereof.

C is operated as hereinafter described and 'ried'on the outer end of an arm a to an arm g.

wheel I), which is engaged by apawl 0, carried by an eccentric strap a, engaging an eecentric c- 'on the main drivingshaft G, extending across'tho machine, and our na led The driving shaft imparts motion tothe shaft Biintermittently,

thereby operating the bands (or conveyor) 6.

Adjacent to shaft B is a continuously "rotating feeding roller I) mounted on' a'sh'aft d,

- jou'rnaled in the side fraines, and having its upper'surface in substantiall the samehorizontal plane' as the table band's lg. Theshaft disldriven in any suitable manner as bybelt d passing over' a drive and conveyer pulley'Cbn shaft Cyand'a pulley (1 on shift (if v E re resents a,.movable ressurezrollen' adapte to engage the feed r0 eIZD', and ear- I r I pivotally mounted abdye said rollelyfan'd I in this illstance loosely mounted :on areel: shaft F rames A, its ends-witl'1 ii' ournaled in the uppenportions ofthe side ressure roller. is intermittently. moved away A." The armors-provided between friction rolic, which enga esa oarnC ,.on shaft C, in such manner-that} e mm the feeding rollerD by; the cm. rile amt-axis resided. with an angularly disposed arm or p ate. e -{havjng a seriesofholes for the attachn ient of a spring a, one end of which is provided an adjustable threaded rod c which is' passed through one of saidholes, in

the arm or plate e', =and secured by :a. nut e.

Theflother end 'of spring. egis secured to some suitable part-of the machine, in this instance,

niounted in thejmainfrsnie, but the spring eouldbe attached to the shaft itself ever the-one spr n e fisenabled to operate on the pressure-r01 er', and also on the rock v 1f de-" -.sired. By thepresentconstruction; how-p shaft, Gyas'will hereinaftensp 'ar'. It will i out in a'well known way, and asillu'strated The sheets 'of paper to be fed are fanned 1 ie'nut if the larly disposed 'in thedrajwings'and are laid upon the'con- I veyer bands I), and byltheni are fed up until the lowest 1sheet',wl'ueh projects beyond'allothers, lies upon the continuously operated feed roller D,- as shown, The friction of secured to .a. rock shaft G roller alone will not be sufiicient to move the lowest sheet and we provide means for separating the lowest sheet of the pile from the others and bendin it into a osition where it may be clamped etween t e roller D and the pressure roller E, whereupon the said lowest sheet will be drawn from the pile and delivered the remaining sheets being held meanwhile against movement.

For the urpose of separating the lowest sheet and bending it as aforesaid, we employ a separating device S which consists preferably of a thin metal or other plate havmg one ed e provided with teeth, or notched or-serrate portions, s, which ma be of a variety of sha es, two of which are i ustrated secured to the outer end of a rock arm H ri by set screw it.

idly but adjustabl mounted on the roc shaft F and secured in its adjusted osition In order to hold t eseparator yieldingly against the-edge of the bottom sheet, with a ver delicate pressure, we provide a light 'spira spring h one end .of which is connected to the arm h, in which a series of -holes h are provided to secure a wide range of adjustment of the tension of the spring. The other end of the spring is adjustably secured to the arm H by means of a threaded rod h passing through a hole in said arm H and secured by a nut fby means of which a further and more delicate adj ust- .ment of the tension of the s ring it may be obtained. 'The se arator is adjustably secured to' the yiel arm h, by means of screws a passing through transverse slots 8' in the arm h, as shown in Fig. 6. By adjusting the separator S, with respect to the arm h, the teeth'or projecting portions; may

be'made to project a greater or less distance beyond the edge of the arm h, as will be readily seen from Fig. 6, so that the effective length of said teeth or projections can be adjusted to secure the best results with different wei hts or' thicknesses of paper.

The roc shaft F is provided witha rigid' arnrf (see Fig. 4) having a friction roll f 7 engla'gmg a cam C, on driving shaft C, to rock t e shaft F and throw down the separator S, bymeans of arms H and h, sothat the separator will engage the edge of the bottom sheet of paper and de ress it into position to gripped between t e rollers D and E as previously described. The friction roll f 18- held in engagement with the cam C by a to one movement thereo and'pus wardly away from the paper, so that theas shown and as will be readiliy end connected to an arm f provided with a plurality of holes f 5 to permit of adjusting the tension of the spring.

Wemay employ one or more of the separating devices 'ust described, as may be found desirable. n the drawings we have shown two of these-devices, the construction of which is identical and the corresponding parts are identically lettered on the drawings, and we may employ a larger number if ewhat we term a kick-ofi', which consists of an arm I, ad'ustabl mounted on a rock shaft L, journa ed in t 1e frames A, A and held in position thereon h set screw '1. end of the kick-o arm l is moved into engagement with the yielding arm h, of the separator, duri t 1e upward or return es said arm outseparator shall not-engage the paper during its return movement, ut. the ick-off is The outer moved to permit the separator to engage the I bottom sheet on its down or operative movement. The kick-off arm I i cam C on the driving shaft 8 which engages the outer end of'an operatin arm I (or a friction roll thereon) secure to the, rock operated by a shaft L, the cam (1 being so shaped as t'o rock shaft L at the proper times and impart Y the desired movements to the kick-off arm.

The 'operatin arm l'is held in engagement with cam C,- y a spring I (see F 4) one end of which is securedto an arm rigidly attached to the rock shaft L, the other end of the spring be' secured to one of the frames A, as at l. file rock -shaft L is provided with a kick-off arml for each of the arms h, understood. mg the'sh ts We also provide means for hol paper above the bottom sheet, firm y against displacement while the bottom she'et is being drawn out from beneath them and delivered, mas

M, represent a pair of stationing: locking jaws or arms which are ri idly but a reviously described. This 1 mechanism whic l we term the locking mechustably secured to a transverse ar m supported inthe side frames A, A of the machine, forward of the feed roller D. In this instance the jaws M are each. provided with a sleeve Pertion in fitting the bar'm and rigidly secured thereto by set screw m. This enables the arm M to be adjusted transversely of the machine and also up and down (or rotarily around the bar m to bring it to the desired position.

represent movable locking arms or jaws having sleeve portions n mounted on a rock shaft (i supported in hearings in the side frames A, A and held rigidly in their 2t(lusted relation to the shaft.- hy'set. screw n linch of the arms N is provided with a broad gripping portion a which cooperates with one of the arms M in gripping and locking the paper, and in this instance extends below the said arm M, as shown, and ismoved upward into locking position by the partial rotation of the rock shaft G. rotated at the proper point in the cycle of operation of the machine by means of a cam C" on the main shaft- C, which cam enga es a roll g on the outer end of an -arm 9 Sat r'oll being held in engagement with the cam C by the s ring 4:, connected to arm 9, as before described. 4 i

In order that the pile of sheets onthe feeding conveyor bands 6, may not, be advanced too rapidly, so as to interfere with the proper operation of the device, we provide a throw off mechanism to disconnect the actuating pawl c, from the ratchet wheel b, when the aper has been. fed to the proper osition.

b paper before being placed'on t eiliands fanned or, spread out in such manner thatthe edge of each sheet is slightly in rear of the one below it, as shown in the drawing.

This fanning of the paper is'well understood in the rioting art, and it is ordinarily accomplish by seizin the pile of sheets, brin ing 40 their edges into a inement, and then, holdin opposite-edges of the pile between thumb an fingers, bending the pile of sheets in first one direction and thenthe'other and releasin the pressure alternately at opposite ends -0 the pile. It follows, therefore, thatas the pile of sheets is-fed toward the feed roller.D, the' forward edges of the pile present the; appearance of an incline;

'dle roller, supported at the outer end of a trip lever o freely pivoted between its ends, (in this instance being loosely mounted on the bar 1n) and carrying a counterbalance Weight o"at the end op osite said roll 0. J The roll() is so located t at us the pile of sheets is advanced, it will travel up the incline presented by the forward at ges thereof, as clearlyshownin the drawings. '(See particularly, Fig.1 and 4). The arm 0 is here shown as. made .in two pieces,

but this is not important and'itmay be made as one piece." The arm-o'is-provided adjacent to roller 0, with p pro'ection 0, which onto a'throwofl' rock gages an, M11111),- secu shaft P360 ome in t e sidaframes'A, .A,

and on tho-outer side ofone of said frames,

The shaft 11, is.

next downward moveme ciently to restore the pawl c to operative rclation with the ratchet b when the forward feeding ofthc pile of sheets is resumed and continues u nti the throw off mechanism again lifts the awl c. It is found that this throw off mec ianisin maintains the pile of sheets in the proper position and insures the necessary advance of the pile until all the sheets have been removed. The adjustment of set screw p permits the throw off mechan-,

ism-to be ad usted to accommodate paper or sheets. ofdi erent thickness.

Such adjust-f ment may be obtained by changing the osi- -tion of the-arm p with respect to the sha t-P,

by loosening the set screw p by whichsaid,

arm is secured to the shaft settin the arm and tightentin the set screw, an

thisad 'ustment may a so be provided in other ways,

ut the screw p. provides a. convenient means of adjustment without disturbin any; of the other parts of the throw off mec aniam'and is our preferred means ofadjustment.

Whcn'the sheets are to be delivered hori' zontally, we prefer to provide an auxiliary conveyer .below the feed rollerD, and faxtendingforw'ardly thereof, consisting in this instance of deliver bands 1' 1' runningjon drums or pulleys mounted on the transverse shafts R and R. The shaft R is here shown as the driving shaft, and is'jo erated by a belt r, eng ing a pulley r on M013,

and Pulley C on t e main shaft C. In lf to-ossist inguiding thesheeta onto the delivery bands r, we also provide-an idle shaft drums or,pulleys t t which" frictionally -onga'ge the as clearly shown in Fig. 4. V 3 I The operation of" the device infocdmg sheets will be clearly apparent from the foregoing description, but the cy'cldof 'the' band'sso as tobe rotated the'reby" machine may be stated for greater cls'arnoss.-

The main or drivin shaft C is driven'con- The paper represented at} W tinuou'sly by power or by hand) in any suit able manner.

is fanned out and placed upon the feed table B, upon .the feedi convo or hands b b and the ratchet wheel may e turned by handto advance the pa r to approximate] the properposition, wien the pawlc wi vance it slowly until the rol O ridi 'un the incline presented by the-fdrwaiifiuife e of the sheets, throws off the pawl c. q

' t of the separator 1rd" T above the said bands-fiend. rnvi'cled or separators will cause them to engage the edge of the lowest sheet, indicated by \V, which will then extend over the continuously moving feed roller D, and below the :lqcking arms, M, and bend it downward into positionto be engaged by the clamping roller E (see Fig. 3). At the same time the locking arms N will be lowered so as to pass the lowest sheet and clamp the next adjacent sheets above the same between the locking jaws or arms M and N, and hold them from forward movement. As soon as the lowest sheet is gripped between the rollers 'E and D the frictional en agement of the latter lroll therewith will pu l it forward and downward as shown in the drawings until-its lower edge enga es the traveling delivery bands 1- 1', which carry the edge ortions forward'between the bands 1 r and a horizontal direction and deliver the sheet horizontal] If the sheet is to be delivered vertically t is bands 1- r and pulls 's tj'tfim be pile of sheets and repetitions of the cycle of operations causes these aration and feeding o thesheets successive y. 'As'sqon as the feeding of a number of sheets has lowered the position of the roll 0 sufliciently to bring the awl c.'into operative relation with the rate et wheel, the bands I) b'willbe actuated tomove-u the pileof sheets, which is thus maintaine in suchposition that the-lowest bend it into 'po'sition to be enga d by the i sheet can always be se arated and delivered.

What we claim an desire to secure by Letters Patent isz+ f e' 1. In an automatic slieet feeding device, the combination with means for sup rting the sheets'in horizontal 'os'ition, feeciiiig devices for delivering the s eets sin y, located adjacent/thereto, a separating evice provi ed with serrated portions, means for drawing said separating device'across theedge ofthe bottom sheet in a downward direction to feeding devices, and clamping holding the remaining sheets a ment while the bottom sheet 1s drawn out including a jaw located above the plane of the bottom sheet, and a cooperatin movable jaw having portions' below the p ane of evices for the bottom sheet,-substantiallfy as described.

2. In an automatic sheet eding device the combination with a horizontally disposed conveyer upon which the-sheetsare sup' porte the orward edgeof each sheet'be' slightly in advance of the sheet above it,.

means for operating the conveyerto advance the sheets, fecdin mechanis'm' adjacent to said conveyor for '(feliveringthesheets singly therefrom, a separating device for engaging the idle pulleys t, iir

proper, sequence.

scribed.

clampin sheets sheet is drawn out, substantially as described inst movethe botto sheet and bending it downward into posi ion to be engaged by the feeding mechanism,a stationary gripping jaw having means for operating the conveyor" to advance the sheets, feedin mechanism adjacent to said convey'er for elivering the sheets singly therefrom, a separating device for engagin the blfitom sheet and bending it downwarr into position to 'be enga ed by the feeding mechanism, means for he ding the remaining sheets while the bottom sheet is drawn out,

a throw oil" mechanism for the conveyor,

operatin means, including a movable part provide with a roller, adapted to engage the inclined surface presentedby the retreating front edges of thesheets,substantiallyas de- 4. In- "an automatic sheet feeding device the combination with a horizontally dlspos'ed conve or u on" which' 'the"sheets .-are supports ,4; e orward edge of each sheet being -slightly=in-. advance of--the' one above it means for 'opera't the conveyor, a feed roll adjacent to the end ofsaid conveyor, and beneaththe 'plan'e of travel of the. sheets, a clamping device movable :toward] and from the feed roll, a separating-device, for engag ing the frontiedge of the bottom om movement 'while' the'f-bottom 5. In an automatic sheet feeding device,

the combination with a horizontally disposed conve er, u

on which the sheets are sup-.. porte the. orward edge of each sheet being sheet and move it into osltion to be engaged between said feed ro .fand clamping device, and

means for holding the remaining a slightly in-advance ot theone above it,

.means' for operating the conveyor, a feedv roll ad'acent to the end of said conve er and honest the plane of travel of the s eets, a

clamping device movable toward and from the feed roll, a separating device, mechanism for'reclprocating the same across the edge of thebottom sheet, a rock shaft, a "kick off arm carried thereby, and constructed ,to en- 'gage the separating-device, during its niov-er'nent in one direction and hold it out of en- 1 gagement .iwithjr sa'id sheets,- andclam ingmeans for holding-the remaining sheets roinmovement whil the iholtom sheet is drawn out, substantially ais"ilt:qihed.

In an autom'atie..fceding device, the f combination :with nieaiis ior supporting a plurality of, articles to be fed, of feeding mechanism located adjacent thereto, a separating device consistmgof a metal blade having rojections or teeth on one edge, a sup portln device for said blade, means for reciprocating said blade and its support, said sup ort havin blat e, rovide an edge disposed substantia ly fparallel to the row of projections or teeth 0 the blade, and means for adjusting the blade transversely with respect to said support to vary the amount of projection ofsaid teeth beyond the adjacent-edge of said support, substantiall .as described.

7. In an automatic fee ing device for sheets and the like articles, the combination with a conveyor for supporting the articles to be fed in ahorizontal position, means for actuating said conveyor, a feeding device adjacent to-said conveyer, a separating device constructed to engage the edge of one of said articles .and move it into position to be engaged by thefeeding mechanism, a throw off mechanism for said conveyer actuating mechanism, including a vertically movable device extending above'aportion of said eon ve er', and meansjcr ad usting said throw 0 mechanism, toaccommodate it: to sheets or articles of difierent thickness, substan-- tially as described.

8.-. In an automatic feeding: device forsheets'and 'the like. articles,- the combination 7 within conveyor for supportingthearticles to' ,b'e fed in a horizontal position, means for actuating said conveyor, a feeding device adj as cent to said ceu veyer,- ia' separating ,deyme constructed'to engage theedge'of oneof said articles and move it into position to be engaged by the feeding mechanism, a throw 'ofl 1s roller Views 66 with a conveyor for supportingthe smote-w mocha-mam for said conveyer actuating a vertically movable trip arm providfid' ifith a friction roller;

mechanisnl including and a counter b ce for said trip am; an substantially-as described. 9.--ln an automatic ceding device adapted to ride mu thearticles' to be fedi sheets and the like"artic lgs ,t he combination, with a conveyor for 'suppgrting the articles to be fed in a horizontal 'o'sition, afeeding dv vice adjacent to sai .-conveyer, pawl and ratchet mechanism .for actuating said 'conveyer a separatingdevice constructed to en ape an edge of one of the'artlclesand move t 0 position to be e aged by thefeedmg' tending above the path of the articles on said conveyor, a throw off am, an adjustable device interposed between the throw off arm and the pawl of said pawlvand' ratehet inech anism and o erative' connections-between said trip and brow ofi arm, stibstant' described. i r '5 10 In'an autpmatic fee tleviee o and the like articles, 'the'combmat on fo'oasse a plortion adjacent to the wit echanism, a vertifca y movable trip 'exbe fed in a horizontal position, a feeding de- 'vice adjacent to said conveyor, pnwl and the pawl of the pawl and ratchet nn-.r:h.anism and operative connections between said trip arm and said throw oil arm, substantially as described. 4

11. In an automatic feeding device for sheets and the like articles, the coinhinatitian with means for supporting the articles in horizontalposition, feeding mechanism adjacent thereto, for delivering the sheets singly, a separating device for engagingan edge of one of the articles at a time and bend ing it into position to be engaged by the feeding mechanism, a horizontal delivery conveyerbelow said feeding niochnnism, and a rotar device located below the feeding mechanism, and forward of the rear end of said'delivery conveyor, said rotary device being located above the travel of the sheet upon said conveyor, substa'ntialh as described. c 12. In an automatic feeding device for sheets .and like articles, the combination with a horizontal iconve er for supporting the sheets in a horizontal position, with the forward edge of each sheet in advance of the one above it, a .feed roller adjacent to the end of said conveyor, a pressure roller movguiding roller located below'the feed roller above the delivery conveyer and forward of the rear end of the same, substantially as described.

, 13; In afeeding devicefor sheets and like articles, the combination with a horizontally disposedconvgfier for supporting the sheets, operating me continuously operating feed roller ad acent anism for said conveyor, a

to the delivery end of said conveyer, a pressure roll movable to and from the feedin roll, a throw ofi-mechahism for the operating mechanism for .said conveyer, a vertically movable tri lever havi a roller adapted toepl'g'age't e'articles to e fed, and oper- .ativ y comiected with the throw oif mechfor ,actuatin f the same, a counter balfor said ,tr'ip ever aseparator' havin for en aging'an edgs of one of said articles and bending the same into position be engaged by the feed and pressure rolls,

means for reciprocating the separator, a stationary clamping jaw, and a movable clamping jaw cooperating therewith, mechanism for o crating said movable jaw to clamp the 5 artic es adjacent to the selected article and holding ,them while the selected article is fe d a movable kick-01f device for holding these arator out of contact with the articles to be. ed during its return movement, a horizontal delivery conveyer below the plane of the: aforesaid conveyer and rotating devices cooperating with the delivery conveyer for causing the separated articles to take a horizontal position on said delivery conveyer, substantially as described.

IIn testimony whereof we affix our signatures in the presence of two witnesses.

ROBERT E. KEMPER. ARTHUR KEMlER. Witnesses:

C. G. KEMPER, R. KEMPER. 

